There is a saying that after being a soldier for three years, I feel close to the female mosquito when I see it.

Since he left Chang'an last summer, Zhang Qian has not had any women around him for more than a year, and when he suddenly saw Zijuan, he couldn't help but have bright eyes.

And the arrival of Zijuan not only brought him convenience in life, but also clearly expressed a message that Yang Qingjing did not reject the existence of Zijuan.

"This damn patriarchal society!" In the evening, when he was dealing with official business, he heard the familiar sound of counting money again, Zhang Qian despised himself while happily waving his fist at the sky.

Although it is not so big that it is nonsense until now, there is a little beauty by her side, just looking at the back, it is more comfortable than facing a group of big men every day. What's more, when Zijuan was in Zhangjiazhuang, he had already been trained by him to become a qualified secretary, and he could easily take care of the trivial matters in his life and work.

So, there is Zhang Jiuling on the outside and Zijuan on the inside. After coming to the Western Regions for more than a year, Zhang Qian finally lived a few more days as a "big master". It's a pity that the good days didn't last a few days, and soon, Zhang Jiuling finished preparing for the baggage. He had to gather 5,000 soldiers and horses and rush to Yanbo Prefecture to meet with the main force of the Anxi Army led by Niu Shijiao.

After more than half a year of rest, the strength of the Anxi Army Headquarters stationed in Qiuzi has been fully restored. The morale and morale of the army have also reached their peak again under the full adjustment of the old general of the Niu Division Award. And the legend that Zhang Qian used new weapons to be invincible in Shiguo and break a city in one day made the Anxi Army Headquarters full of confidence in the upcoming Armageddon.

"Don't blame the marching commander! The old man deliberately used the dragon car and gunpowder bombs to talk about things, and he was forced to do it! Different from the blind optimism of the brothers, the Anxi Dadu Cattle Keeper Award quietly handed over the truth to Zhang Qian on the first day of meeting him again, "Last spring, Zhou Yiyi's troops and horses lost too badly. As a result, many brothers lost their courage when they heard the word "field warfare". If the old man did not try his best to exaggerate the power of the dragon cart and gunpowder bullets, in case the Turkic Khan Molu was forced to jump over the wall and go west with all his might, the brothers might not be able to stop him in the wilderness. ”

"Whatever most of the protectors want to do, just let it go, and your subordinates are the only ones who look ahead!" Hearing that the old general did not call his own words, but directly called his official name, Zhang Qian did not dare to slack off, and quickly arched his hand and solemnly expressed his position.

"The power of gunpowder bullets has been demonstrated to the old man by the brother you sent last time. But Guo Hong and Wei Bo's subordinates have only heard about it. Niu Shi Award returned the gift, and then discussed it seriously, "Especially Wei Bo's side, he just came from Chang'an at the beginning of the year to take up his post, and the soldiers under his command are rebuilt by the defeated army, and they must be strong and strong." Therefore, after Guo Hong and Wei Bo arrived with their troops, the old man wanted to ask the marching chief Shi to draw an elite from his command, several fire dragon chariots and catapults, and demonstrate these two sharp weapons in public, and hoped that the marching chief Shi would not shirk. ”

"No problem, Dadu Hu just ordered. On his side, there is a group of brothers who are trained in the use of dragon carts and catapults. Most of the protectors can be dispatched at any time if they need it. Zhang Qian didn't even think about it, and decisively agreed.

The use of advanced weapons to boost morale is not uncommon in the network of another time and space. Therefore, I don't think there is anything wrong with the plan of the Niu Shi Award. And from the perspective of the long history of the march of the Anxi Metropolitan Protectorate, he also hoped that all units of the Anxi Army would have the confidence that this battle would be won before the war with the Turks.

In addition, Zhang Qian did not want to appear, the Broken Leaf Army was fighting against the Turks in front, and the Khotanese Zhen Army and Shule Army on both flanks suddenly collapsed on the whole line. In that case, no matter how advanced the weapons held by the Broken Leaf Army are, and no matter how brave they are, they will definitely fall into passivity, and even fall into a desperate situation because they are dragged down by friendly forces!

"The Broken Leaf Army has just finished its expedition, and it must be sleepy and lacking, if there is any need, don't be polite to the old man." Seeing that Zhang Qian still respected himself like a year ago, the heart of the Niu Shi Award finally fell back into his stomach, thought about it, and told with a smile. "Although you Broken Leaf Town is a famous and big family. But after all, the old man still has the name of a big protector, and he can't take you for nothing. Whether it is people and horses, or grain and grass, in order to say, as long as the old man can take it out, he will never be stingy! ”

"The seniors don't have to be polite, if you don't do your best for the juniors in the back, the juniors are breaking the leaves, and they may not have done so smoothly!" When Zhang Qian heard this, he immediately changed his name, and gave up his hand with a smile for the third time. "There is no need to replenish the men and horses for the time being, although there are only two battalions in Broken Leaf Town, but this is a burden to replenish new soldiers. However, there is a huge shortage of food, and there are ...... arrows."

"You still have a shortage of military rations over there? How many fields have you planted in Broken Leaf Town? The Niu Shi Award did not return the gift this time, but made an exaggerated expression and tilted his head to interrupt.

However, without waiting for Zhang Qian to explain, he himself laughed and nodded, "Also, the weather over there is cold, and you have just gone on an expedition to Shiguo, and people eat horses and chew back and forth, and how much grain you have to toss clean." ”

"The key broken leaves are all raw fields, and in two or three years, there won't be much food!" Zhang Qian didn't blink his eyelids, and added seriously. "And arrows, after a battle, can't support them without hundreds of thousands. There are only tens of thousands of people in Broken Leaf Town, and all of them have to make arrows, but they can't supply them. ”

"Also, your people over there are too thin!" Niu Shiyu pretended to be confused, and then waved his hand with a smile, "How big is the gap, you go to Sicang to allocate it yourself, whether it is grain or baggage." You are the marching chief, this is originally within the scope of your duties, there is no need to ask the old man! ”

"Thank you for taking care of me!" Zhang was satisfied and thanked loudly.

"Iron vests, whether you are rich or not, give the old man two hundred sets!" The Niu Shi Award will not let Zhang Qianbai take advantage of him, and immediately put forward his own exchange conditions. "In addition, the old man heard that you can make the gunpowder bullet the size of a gourd, called palm thunder, and send five hundred to the old man."

"Iron vests, after the juniors go back, they can send someone to send them over." Zhang Qian thought for a while and responded in a low voice, "But palm thunder, the juniors call this thing a grenade, and it is extremely dangerous to use." If you don't do it properly, you'll blow yourself to pieces, you're ......"

"You send a few more serious people to teach the old man's personal soldiers how to use this thing!" Niu Shi Award frowned, and immediately gave the most appropriate solution.

Zhang Qian couldn't refuse, so he had to smile and nod in agreement. Immediately, he asked the Niu Shi Award to allocate some gold, silver and copper coins to himself in order to boost the morale of his brothers after the war.

He didn't deliberately pinch the other party, but by begging for food, grass, baggage and money, he showed that Broken Leaf Town could not be self-sufficient, so that the eyes of all parties hidden in the Anxi army could send the news back to Jingshi and reassure the hearts of some people. And the Niu Shi Award is obviously also an expert in this area, and after guessing his intentions, he didn't break it, just accompanied him to act, and by the way, he picked out the benefits from his hands.

Two foxes, one old and one young, came and went, bargained, and soon, they all got what they wanted. Then, looking at each other and smiling, they tacitly pulled the conversation back to the upcoming Armageddon.

In the prime of life, Niu Shi Award once served as the commander of the fold in the Shuofang area, and fought with the Turks many times. However, at that time, Datang was in constant civil strife and was basically on the defensive. The Turks, on the other hand, had just recovered their vitality and did not have the courage to expand the war indefinitely. Therefore, most of the battles between the two sides were local conflicts, which could not show each other's true strength, and did not provide much reference for the next Armageddon.

Zhang Qianqian also fought against a Turkic detachment last winter. However, because the opponent was too light, and his side did not hesitate to sacrifice the grenade, an unprecedented secret weapon, the battle was not suspenseful from the beginning. It also doesn't provide much reference for the next Armageddon.

As a result, a big protector and a marching chief hierarch compared to the map for a while, but they were surprised to find that they were talking to each other on paper. I had no choice but to make a decision, and this battle was fought steadily. The main purpose is to provide strong cooperation to the Shuofang army and block the road of the Turks to the west, and resolutely not to be greedy for merit. In order not to suffer the shame of defeat because they are not familiar with the enemy army and the geographical situation.

This decision, of course, makes people not excited. However, it also avoids any possibility of underestimating the enemy and capsizing in the gutter. At the same time, it also made Niu Shixuan and Zhang Qian more firmly believe that it is necessary to bring all the units of the Anxi Army together to act in a unified manner, so as to prevent any of them from being attacked by the Turks and the other departments being unable to rescue.

Two days later, Guo Hong, the guard of Shule Town, arrived with 5,000 soldiers and horses. Another day later, Wei Bo, the envoy of Khotan, also arrived in Yanbo Prefecture. A total of more than 25,000 soldiers and horses from the four routes were trained on the spot under the unified command of the Niu Shi Award. It took 10 days to rehearse the flags, communications, cooperation and liaison between each other, as well as the use of various new and old weapons, from beginning to end.

As a result, just as the Niu Shi Award initially hoped, when he saw the huge power of the dragon cart and gunpowder bullets, especially the huge deterrent effect on the war horse, whether it was the Tang soldiers from Shule or the Tang soldiers from Khotan, their morale skyrocketed. And Wei Bo, the guard of Khotan, who had quietly planned to compete with Zhang Qian for the limelight, also decisively changed his mind and took the initiative to nip all his careful thoughts in the bud.

Seeing this, the Niu Shi Award simply took the opportunity to announce that the soldiers and horses from various towns were all in the name of the garrison and formed their own battalion. Then, with the Broken Leaf Battalion as the vanguard, the Shule Battalion and the Khotanese Battalion as the left and right wings, the Qiuci Battalion as the central army, and the four-way soldiers and horses lined up in a base line to march against the Turks. It was also agreed that the army should march thirty miles in the morning and afternoon, and that the distance between each army should not exceed ten miles, and that if any of them were attacked by Turkic soldiers and horses, whether they could cope with it or not, the other three roads would move closer to it with all their might.

The generals were awe-inspiring, and then, they set off from Yanbo Prefecture one after another, leaving Yanbo Prefecture, and rushed to the first destination of the trip, which is located at the foot of Jinshan Mountain, 700 miles to the northeast. (Note: Xuanchi, a large lake in the middle of the Erzina River.) The Golden Mountain, that is, the Altai Mountains, is not the same place as the Golden Mountains of the Golden Mountain Road. ）

The area around Naxuanchi and the north and south sides of Jinshan were originally the settlements of the Qarluq tribes. The Khan of the Ministry was canonized by the Tang Dynasty for generations and served as the governor of Hanhai. However, when Zhou Yiyi led the Tang army to fight a bloody battle with Suo Ge in the spring of last year, the Khan Chengzong of the department actually allowed a group of Turkic soldiers and horses to pass through his territory and directly kill under the city of Broken Leaves.

Later, the Turkic Khan Mo Si thanked Chengzong for his kindness of borrowing the road, and gave him ten carts of gold and silver obtained from the looting of broken leaves, and Chengzong gladly accepted it. The Tang Dynasty sent an envoy to the Hanhai Governor's Mansion to ask for the guilt, but Chengzong deduced that he was ill at the time and was unable to stop the Turkic army, so he had to make a false accusation. And because the four towns of Anxi were undecided at that time, the Tang envoy had no choice but to pinch his nose and admit this kind of rhetoric.

Now, more than 25,000 Anxi Tang troops suddenly came straight to Xuanchi, and the Qarlu Khan Chengzong got the news, how could he still sleep? Resolutely ordered the capable generals under his command, riding horses and blowing horns, and summoned all the herdsmen of appropriate age on the north and south sides of Jinshan to the bank of Xuanchi to "welcome" the king.

Knowing that although the number of clansmen under his command is huge, their combat effectiveness is far from that of the Tang Army. And in the event that the Qarluq tribe is hit hard, the knotted bone department in the northeast and the Basimi tribe in the east will definitely take the opportunity to pounce on them and eat the Qarluq tribe to the point that there are no bones left. Chengzong Khan also didn't want to blindly carry the Tang army, and at the same time of reorganizing the army for war, he sent out the foreign prime minister under his command, driving 5,000 sheep and 50 cattle, to reward the Tang army, and solemnly stated that if the Tang army's goal was to exterminate the Turks, the 50,000 athletes of the Qarlu Department were willing to bring their own weapons, horses, grain and grass to accompany them. (Note: The Qarluq bureaucracy was influenced by both the Tang Dynasty and the Turks, and there were three foreign prime ministers and three internal prime ministers.) There are also special services, Ye Hu, She, Apo, Dagan, Meru and other tribal official positions. ）

According to his experience, Datang has always been tolerant of various foreign ministries. As long as he put on a posture of waiting for the enemy, and promised to send troops to fight the Turks together with the Tang army. The generals of the Tang Dynasty, in order not to cause any extraneous branches, will definitely re-accept the Qarluq tribe, and may even support the Qarluq department to replace it after the Turks are destroyed.

It's just that good dreams are always easy to wake up.

Seven days later, before the young men under his command could assemble neatly near Xuanchi, how lazy they were, they had already run back on fast horses. Without waiting to jump off his mount, he shouted a warning from the saddle, "Great Khan, quick, lead the royal court to move." Tang Jun, Tang Jun wants to settle the ledger with you! ”

"Settle the ledger?!" Chengzong kicked away the Kedun (concubine) who was serving him, rushed to the door of the king's tent in three steps and two steps, raised his hand to tear Duo Lazy off the horse, and asked in a loud voice, "Didn't you tell him that we were forced to open the way for the Turks?" ”

"That's it, the Niu Shi Award has also been heard!" How lazy he was strangled and responded with a red face. However, the marching commander Shi Zhang Qian did not want to. The Great Khan spares his life, and his subordinates are loyal to you! ”

"What would he not like?" Finding that Duolazi's face had turned black, Chengzong threw the person to the ground and continued to ask sharply. "When will the marching chief Shi be able to be the lord of the protector of the capital?"

"He won't let you go, let go of the Qarluq tribe!" How lazy he was to cover his neck, wheezing and crying, "Niu Shi Award obeyed him. He said, saying, let you either tie yourself up and go to the army to plead guilty, or let the horses go to war. If you want to be a wall grass again, you might as well dream! ”

After that, without waiting for Chengzong's decision, he urged loudly: "Great Khan, let's go, let's go quickly." The legendary magic thunder is real, I saw it with my own eyes. With a wave of his hand, half of the hill was flattened by the blast mine. No matter how many of his clansmen we gather, it's not enough for him to blow up with magic thunder! ”